Naruto: The Seraph Project

Chapter 17: Legends Sadly Proven (Updated)

As I limp painfully and slowly, Shikamaru helps me back to my hospital bed. Once seated, I almost collapse in the latter. I'm immersed in a bath of pain that makes me wince. I no longer feel my arm in agony which is prey to terrible, incessant spasms. Stars twirl around my head, to believe I'm in a whirlwind. In all of this, my body shivers; I'm frozen and my eternally icy extremities are even more so.

I have a fever ... a high fever.

Moments later, Lady Tsunade and Shizune enter the room in a rush. Godaime isn't here for a courtesy visit since she hastens to examine me. A hand on my forehead to take my temperature then, using her medical ninjutsu, she inspects my forearm. I whine in silence in spite of myself; every tiny movement is a stab in my burning flesh.

It's only now that I see the state of my sad arm. Bruises already mark the area around the deep and reddish holes; with the size of the wounds, it's a real miracle that the bleeding has stopped. However, what worries me the most is that my skin is briefly swollen and the bruises seem to be spreading at an alarming rate, as if some enzyme is dissolving my flesh which is dying...

"How does ... it look like, Lady Tsunade...?" I ask in a whisper.

She doesn't answer me and her silence followed by a frown doesn't bode well...

"Lady Tsunade," Shizune calls out, bitten with worry.

"You have a high fever, but you'll get over it soon enough," she finally says, much to my relief.

She now takes care of me. Little by little, I find sensations in my arm, although painful; at this, the strange spread of this fatal disease in it ceases and stabilizes. Curious.

"Your radiant and median nerve have been severed and one of your chakra veins has suffered significant trauma," she adds gravely. "Your epidermis and your dermis have also been damaged... Yet, I've not found anything that can explain the reason why they are..."

It's not without reason that my body is in agony, especially my arm ... yet I didn't expect so much damage... However, I'm worried. How did those fangs manage to inflict so many internal wounds, to the point of making me feverish...? But above all, am I really going to suffer like this every time I give my chakra to Naruto...?

"Naruto didn't go easy," she continues, clicking her tongue in her mouth. "However, it's the exact opposite with your chakra vein. The precision he has shown is surgical. The dexterity with which he pierced it is such that it could rival the Byakugan."

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asks.

"The chakra veins that make up the chakra network are delicate and can easily be damaged and cut. Not only did he not slice it, but he inflicted minimal trauma. With the naked eye, this is simply impossible. To believe that he's able to see them in one way or another."

"...The fact that he ... forcibly sucked my chakra out is to blame for the traumas, isn't it?" I suppose between two breaths.

Godaime nods.

"It must be an ability these creatures possess," Shikamaru sighs darkly. "It looks like we have the answers to our questions..."

A haughty silence sets in.

Sadly, as he put it so well, we have our answers about Naruto: he's a chakra devourer. Why? How? We have yet to find the answers, these and many more. Although we finally have an explanation, the prognosis is grim, very grim. Indirectly, Naruto has become a threat to the shinobis and kunoichis of Konohagakure, and judging by the deplorable state I'm in, that's understood.

I sigh to myself as a shiver of dread slides down my spine. This implies that my pupil will be hungry again... As long as I am the only one able to approach him, I will be a victim of this feeding ritual, again and again. I won't last long if the consequences of his bites are as bad as these. Similarly, there's the risk that he tries to bite off more than he can chew; I could die... Nevertheless, I choose to trust him; the Naruto chaste of evil is still there. I believe in him and I agree to put my life in his hands.